A recent national study associated 12% of HIV/AIDS infections among women to relationships involving intimate partner violence (IPV). Even though researchers agree that intimate partner violence (IPV) affects sexual risk among women, little is known about the mechanisms by which IPV leads to risky sexual behavior.

Dr. Theresa Senn, PhD, associate professor (research) of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a senior research scientist in the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital and co-author of a study released this year along with colleagues tested the hypothesis that fear of violent consequences when negotiating condom use mediated the relation between IPV and condom use.

For the study 478 participants were recruited between March 1, 2004 and June 30, 2006 from a public clinic that treats sexually transmitted diseases in upstate New York as part of a randomized controlled trial. Participants completed self-administered questionnaire (audio computer assisted) that asked about risky sexual behavior, intimate relationships, and related covariates and confounding variables.

Recent IPV was associated with fear of violent consequences to requests for condom use, and such fear was associated with inconsistent condom use. Women who reported IPV also reported greater difficulties in negotiating safer sex behaviors with their abusers. So fear of violent consequences appeared to hinder their ability to protect themselves against HIV infection.

A 2009 study from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada, had examined the association between IPV and HIV among 13,928 women in the United States, aged 20 years and older. The researchers found IPV was significantly associated with HIV infection.

In the Journal of the International AIDS Society 2014, a systematic review and meta-analysis examined evidence of the link between IPV and HIV among women. The evidence had suggested a moderate statistically significant association between IPV and HIV infection among women.

Results from the Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2011 that included 3,084 currently married women revealed 15% of currently young and middle-aged married women experienced some form of violence in the last 12 months and around one in four women who were exposed to physical and sexual intimate partner violence reported sexually transmitted infection in the last 12 months. The odds of getting sexually transmitted infection were 1.88 times higher among women exposed to any form of intimate partner violence in the last 12 months compared to women not exposed to any form of intimate partner violence.

The WTO reports (2013) that in some regions, female victims of domestic violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV than women who have not experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Other research has indicated that the risk of contracting HIV is two times higher for women who experience domestic violence. Domestic violence contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in various ways.

A cross-sectional analysis of a population-based survey of 3,521 California women examine the relationship between cumulative exposure to various types of interpersonal violence throughout the life span and self-reported history of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) diagnosis. The women reported their experience of multiple types of interpersonal violence: physical or sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood and intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past 12 months.

The results showed that among the women 6% reported a past diagnosis of chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and 40.8% reported experiencing at least one type of interpersonal violence in their lifetime Women who reported experiencing four or more types of violence experiences had over five times the odds of reporting a lifetime CT diagnosis compared with women who never experienced interpersonal violence.

Women who experience physical and/or sexual partner violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire syphilis infection, chlamydia, or gonorrhea. In some regions (including sub-Saharan Africa), they are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV.

Information on domestic/partner violence can be found online at womenshealth.org . If your living with Herpes, HPV, HIV. AIDS or other STDS and are looking for a trusted resource for information on STDS, need to talk to counselor or just someone who understands what you are going through without feeling degraded and receive the support you need check out PositiveSingles not your average STD dating site.

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